Should've Been A Fairytale
by LiveLaughLove013
Summary: 'So maybe her life should've been a fairytale, but the truth was, it wasn't.' The not exactly fairytale life of Lily Luna Potter.
1. Prologue

**For The Game of Life Challenge (Character: Lily Luna Potter, Prompt: Get engaged), The If You Dare Challenge (Prompt #668: Once Upon A Time), The Greenhouses Competition (Azalea: Write about a female character).**

Prologue:

Everyone thought her life should have been a fairytale.

_Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Lily Luna Potter. Her mom was a famous Quidditch player, and her father was the hero of the wizarding world. The little girl herself was very pretty, with fiery red curls and bright brown eyes. She was kind and helpful to everyone, very smart, and was good at everything she did. Everyone loved her. She went to Hogwarts, met the man of her dreams, and fell in love. They got engaged soon after they graduated, then married, had a few kids, and lived happily ever after._

Here's the thing. It wasn't.

If her life was a fairytale, she would have been the pretty one in her family, with the amazing looks and the picture perfect smile. Instead, Victoire was.

If her life was a fairytale, she would have been a Hufflepuff because of her kind, cheery, helpful nature. Instead, Lucy was.

If her life was a fairytale, she would have been the smart one, the one who always had the answer to any question, the one who could solve any problem, the one everyone came to for advice, the one graduating top of her class. Instead, Molly was.

If her life was a fairytale, she would have been good at Quidditch, good with boys, good with school work, good at everything she could ever possibly think of trying. Instead, Dominique was.

If her life was a fairytale, she would have been the girl always surrounded by friends, boys, well wishers and admirers, the one who everyone loved, the popular one. Instead, Roxanne was.

If her life was a fairytale, she would be the one getting engaged to Scorpius Malfoy, the kind of boy every girl dreams of, a mere two years after she had graduated, planning her big white wedding and coming up with names for the children they were sure to have. Instead, Rose was.

If her life was a fairytale, Lily would have been all these things. Instead, she was rather ordinary in appearance, with messy red hair and dull brown eyes. Instead, she was a Slytherin, with her cunning, ambitious, sly nature and manipulative ideas. Instead, she had to study for hours and hours to scrape up the grades she needed to become an Auror, her lifelong dream. Instead, she was the girl who couldn't play Quidditch well to save her life, who had had a measly total of two relationships in all of her eighteen years. Instead, she was the girl whose best friend until she was fifteen was her god brother, Teddy Lupin, eleven years her senior, because she didn't have any other friends to give that title to. Even after that, her friendships were strained at best, no one in Slytherin wanted to befriend a Potter, and no one outside it wanted to befriend a Slytherin

If her life was a fairytale, Lily would be the one getting married to Scorpius in eight months time, riding off into the sunset and living happily ever after. Instead, she was the maid of honor, trying to help her cousin plan her wedding to the man she was in love with.

So maybe her life should've been a fairytale, but the truth was, it wasn't.


	2. Chapter 1

**For the If You Dare Challenge on HPFC (Prompt #511. Dreams) and the Prove Me Wrong Challenge (Finish a multi-chapter that's at least ten chapters, no less than 1200 words per chapter), also on HPFC.**

Chapter 1

Lily rolled out of bed to the sound of an owl tapping on her window. Seeing the Ministry crest on the letter it held, she scrambled towards the window and opened it.

Today was the day, the day her future was determined. She had got her NEWT results three weeks ago and had immediately forwarded them to the Auror Department as part of her application.

She had done rather well on her NEWTS, she thought. Two Es, in Herbology and Charms, and three Os, in Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense. She had got the test scores to become an Auror, but did that mean she was in?

She had wanted to be an auror since she was old enough to understand what her dad did for a living. After Teddy was accepted into Auror Training when he graduated and came home with stories about the things they were learning and the missions they got to go on in their third year of training, her dreams of becoming an auror only solidified. She had spent all her spare time at Hogwarts studying for her exams so she could scrape up the grades she needed to be an auror.

She sighed. It would be so much easier if she was like Molly, or Rose, naturally smart with hardly any studying. Both had all O's, of course, and Rose was accepted into healer training instantaneously. Molly was working a high paid job at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Lily fumbled to untie the letter. As the bird flew off, she walked slowly back over to her bed and sat down on the edge. She stared at the letter as though in a trance. Slowly, she slid her index finger under the flap and slit it open. She pulled out the letter and read,

_Dear Miss Lily Potter,_

_As the Head of the Auror Department, I, Harry Potter, am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as one of the few to begin the three years of training to become an Auror. Training will…_

She stopped reading as a scream of joy escaped her lips. She raced down the stairs to the dining room, where her mum and dad were sitting at the table, drinking coffee. "Mum! Dad! I did it! I made it in! I'm going to be an auror!" Harry laughed as Ginny gave her daughter a hug and offered congratulations.

Lily turned to the letter again, wanting to know everything she could about what she was going to be doing.

_Dear Miss Lily Potter,_

_As the Head of the Auror Department, I, Harry Potter, am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as one of the few to begin the three years of training to become an Auror. Training will begin on September 1__st__. You are to report to the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic at 8am Monday through Friday for training. The first two years will consist of advanced training in subjects such as Defense, Stealth and Tracking, and Dueling, among other things. Exams will be held in all subjects at the end of each year. If you pass all the exams both years, you will move on to the third year of training. For this last year of training, you will be assigned a senior auror as mentor and will accompany them on select missions and raids. At the end of that year, it will be decided by your mentor, the Head of the Auror office, and various others if you are to become a full-fledged auror._

_Congratulations on securing a spot in our program._

_Harry Potter, Head Auror_

So even though she had made it in, even if she passed all her exams and did everything the way she was supposed to, there was no guarantee she would become a full-fledged auror. She could waste three years of her life trying to reach her dream, only to fail and tell Uncle George that maybe she needed that job in his shop after all.

She shook her head. _Don't think like that, Lily. You're going to make it. You're going to be an auror._

Lily turned to her dad, who was smiling and looked completely unsurprised that Lily had made it into the highly selective program. She scanned her letter again. "You knew, didn't you?" She asked accusingly.

He smiled sheepishly. "The Head Auror makes the final decision on who's accepted,"

"You knew and didn't tell me? Why?"

"I'm sorry, Lil," Harry said. "You know I would've told you if I could,"

Lily nodded reluctantly. "I know," She grinned again. "I need to tell everyone,"

Ginny laughed. "Slow down, Lily dear," She said. "We're having Sunday dinner at the Burrow tonight with the family. You can tell everyone then,"

Lily nodded. "I've got to go get ready," She told her mum. "Lucy and me are going to start moving into our flat. We get the keys in an hour,"

Ginny laughed. "Go get ready, Lil,"

Lily got out of the shower 45 minutes later and quickly dressed. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and did her makeup in record time. Grabbing a light jacket, she raced down the stairs. Calling a quick goodbye to her parents, she headed out the door, disapparating as soon as she was outside the boundary line.

In moments, Lily found herself in Lucy's living room. "Lucy, I'm here!" She called. "Are you ready?"

"Coming!" Her cousin called, hurrying down the stairs. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied up in a loose bun and she wore no makeup, emphasizing her natural beauty. She wore a simple blue sundress paired with an unusual choice of tennis shoes.

"You look beautiful today, Lily," Lucy commented, smiling brightly at her cousin.

Lily looked down at her outfit. With jean shorts, tennis shoes, a green t-shirt and her hair in a ponytail, Lily didn't exactly agree with her cousin's remark, but she didn't say anything. "Let's go,"

The two headed out the door and climbed into Lucy's car, parked in the driveway. Lucy pulled the car onto the road effortlessly, and Lily once again wondered how her cousin could do it. She was sure to crash if she tried. As they drove, Lily shared the exciting news with her cousin that she had made it into the auror program.

"That's amazing, Lily!" Lucy exclaimed, not taking her eyes off the road. "I knew you could do it!"

Within minutes, the two were pulling up in front of their new flat, a three bedroom in a residential muggle area. Together they mounted the stairs to where the owner was waiting with the keys.

"Hello, girls," The lady they were renting from, Maria, was an older witch that always had a smile for them. She handed Lily the keys. "Here you go, dears. I already had the fireplace connected to the floo, so don't worry about that,"

Lily nodded politely while Lucy smiled and thanked Maria profusely. The older witch smiled once more and disappeared down the stairs. When she was gone, Lucy turned to look at Lily.

"You ready, Lil?" She asked, excited.

"Ready as I'll ever be,"

And with that, she turned the key in the lock and opened the door to their new life.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The backyard of the Burrow was full of people. Teddy and Victoire stood in the corner, baby Andromeda in Victoire's arms. Her hair was bright pink. Lily could see their three year old, Remus, running around with Dominique's adopted daughter, Jean. Dominique sat with her husband David and Molly on the other side of the yard. Her mum and dad, Grandpa Arthur, Uncle Ron, Uncle Percy, Uncle Bill, Uncle George and Aunt Angelina stood together, chatting and watching the littlest children play. Grandma Molly, Aunt Fleur, Aunt Audrey, and Aunt Hermione were inside making dinner. Fred, Roxanne, Louis, and James weren't in sight; they were most likely off playing Quidditch. Albus, Rose, and, of course, Scorpius Malfoy, sat together at a table, no doubt discussing the wedding. It was all Rose could talk about since she got engaged two months before.

"I'm going to go help with dinner," Lucy told Lily. She nodded absently. Lucy turned and disappeared inside.

"Lily!" Rose called, spotting her and motioning for her to join them. Lily pretended not to hear her.

"Lily, over here!" Rose called again, louder. Lily sighed. She had hoped to avoid Rose, Scorpius and especially talk of their wedding. She reluctantly joined them.

"Hello, Lily," Scorpius greeted her with a smile and Lily had to fight hard to remember he belonged to Rose and not her. _If only it was her he was marrying instead of Rose…_

"Hello, Scorpius," She forced herself to remain simply polite, not letting herself not to show anything more than distant friendship to her cousin's husband-to-be. He had obviously moved on, and so had she.

"Hey, Lily," Al said. She smiled slightly to say she was glad to see him. "I hear you moved in to your new apartment today,"

"Yes," Lily agreed. "Lucy and I did,"

Rose smiled at her. "That's great Lily! Are you all moved in?"

Lily nodded.

"And you're still helping with the engagement party next week, right?"

She had forgotten about that. _Why did I agree to help in the first place?_

She nodded again.

Rose began to explain to her every detail of the party. "It's at my parents' house, and we're going to have karaoke and Grandma Molly and Nana Jean are making dinner. It's going to be casual, but it's the first time in years that our family is going to really meet Scorpius' so everything has to be perfect. The actual wedding is going to be at Scorpius' parents' house, so we figured we should have the engagement party at my parents' house. It's just going to be our two families and the Scamanders, Longbottoms, Kya Dey and Antonio Zabini,"

Lily was tired of listening. She didn't care about a stupid engagement party. She didn't want there to _be_ an engagement party for Rose and Scorpius.

"And we'll… Lily, are you okay?" Rose trailed off, looking concerned.

"I'm fine, Rose," Lily lied. "Just tired. It's been a long day. Moving in and all,"

Rose seemed to believe her.

"Listen," Lily said, desperate to get out of there. "I'll be at your place around noon the day of the party to help get everything ready, okay? I'm going to go see Teddy and Victoire and baby Andi,"

Rose looked disappointed, but she nodded. "Okay, Lily, have fun," She smiled.

Lily stood and waved. "Bye Rose, Al," She said. "Scorpius,"

She turned and walked away, forcing herself not to look back at the man who had broken her heart.

Dinner was delicious, as it always was when Grandma Molly cooked. Lily ended up at a table with Lucy, Fred, Roxanne, Louis, and her brother James.

"So, Lily," James started. "I hear you got a letter from the Ministry today. Care to share what it said?" His teasing grin made it obvious he already knew.

"I start Auror training in September, if that answers your question,"

"Congratulations!" Louis exclaimed.

"I always knew you'd be an auror, Lil," Roxy smiled. "Good job,"

"There's always a job at Dad's shop if you need it," Fred reminded Lily.

"Yeah," James laughed. "And if there isn't, you can steal Fred's,"

Fred gasped. "Lily, steal my job?"

"I don't think so, Fred," She laughed. "But thanks for the offer,"

The topic quickly turned to Quidditch and who they thought would win the cup. James was, of course, adamant that Puddlemere United, the team he played for, would win. Fred was stirring up trouble by saying the Harpies were obviously the better team. The conversation distracted Lily from the table next to theirs, where Rose and Scorpius sat whispering and giggling.

Before dinner ended, James nudged Lily. "If you want to share your news, you better go now," He whispered.

Lily nodded and stood. Everyone turned to look at her. "Today I got a letter from the Ministry…" She paused. "I start Auror training on September 1st!"

The room came alive as everyone tried to congratulate Lily, to give her a hug and say well done and that they knew she could do it.

After a few minutes, Rose stood as well, pulling Scorpius to his feet beside her. "I have something to say as well. As you all know, Scorpius and I are engaged," She flashed a smile at him.

"Of course we know, it's all she's talked about for two months," Lily muttered to James next to her.

"Anyway," Rose continued. "We're having our engagement party at my parent's house next Saturday and you all are invited. You can bring a guest or two if you'd like," She looked at James. "Since I know James won't be able to resist bringing his girlfriend and probably one of his friends from Puddlemere too,"

James laughed. "You got that right, Rosie. At least now they're invited, instead of me just bringing them anyway,"

Everyone around Lily laughed, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was hard enough to keep a smile plastered on her face. All she wanted to do was throw something at Rose and scream at her for ruining everything.

"Lily's already agreed to help set up," Rose continued. James looked over at Lily questioningly. 'Really?' he mouthed. She nodded stiffly. 'We need to talk later' James mouthed. Lily rolled her eyes. 'Whatever' she mouthed back.

Rose was babbling on about how they would love if anyone else was able to help set up. Finally, she sat down.

After Rose sat down, Lily announced she was leaving.

"I have to go too," James said, looking pointedly at Lily at Lily. She sighed inwardly. She really didn't want to talk to James right now.

After saying goodbye to everyone, James grabbed Lily's hand and they disapparated.

Lily knew immediately where they were going. The tree house in their parents' backyard. It had been their favorite place as kids, a place for just the two of them, seeing as Albus had never been particularly fond of it. As they had grown, it had become a safe place for them, a place to escape from the world, a place they could talk without being interrupted.

James reached the tree house first and helped Lily inside. They sat on the floor of the small room, facing each other.

"Alright, Lily," James said after a moment. "What's going on?"

Lily sighed. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, especially James.

As kids, Lily and James had always been close. The bond between them had only been strengthened as they grew. Lily told James everything, and he always was able to tell what she was really feeling. It was impossible for her to lie to him.

He was also the only one who knew the truth about her and Scorpius.

_It had been her 4__th__ year at Hogwarts, and Scorpius' 6__th__. It had started at a party in the Slytherin common room after a Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff. They had both been a little drunk when they had started making out and a little more than drunk when they had stumbled up to his dorm room an hour later._

_She had thought it would be a onetime thing. That was how Scorpius Malfoy worked, after all. You got one day, or if you were lucky, two or three, with him._

_Yet three days after that night, he had passed her a note at dinnertime, telling her to meet him in the Room of Requirement at 10 that night._

_She had hated herself for it, yet she was curious and dying to experience him again. And so she went. There had been no greeting, just a forceful kiss that led to more until she found herself waking up there the next morning with Scorpius nowhere in sight._

_The third time this happened, she stopped him before he could kiss her when she arrived. He looked confused and a little bit annoyed._

"_Why me?" She asked._

_He smiled, a charming smile that melted her heart. "Because I like you. I like you a lot, Lily Potter,"_

_She had known as soon as he said it that it was a lie. But she wanted desperately for it to be true. Because somehow, in the last week and a half, she had started falling for him._

_The pattern continued for another month before anyone found out._

_It was James who had noticed. He had walked in on them in the Room of Requirement with his girlfriend, Sophia. He had gasped and exclaimed, "Lily?"_

_Lily shrieked and covered herself with a blanket. "James? What the hell are you doing here?"_

_He ignored her question. "We need to talk. Now." He told her. "Get dressed," He turned to Sophia. "I have to go, I'm sorry. It's Lily. I need to help her,"_

_Sophia had nodded and left the room._

_They had found and empty classroom and sat across from each other. James just looked at her, and within a minute she had broken down and told him everything._

_When she was finished, James sighed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, Lilypad," He told her, using a nickname from when she was young. "But you're hurting yourself by giving into him. I don't want that for you,"_

_Lily had nodded tearfully and promised she wouldn't do it again._

_She held out for four days before she gave in to Scorpius. She met James' eyes at breakfast the next morning and looked away guiltily._

_It went on like that for months. Lily promising she wouldn't shag Scorpius, her avoiding him for a few days, her giving in, James talking to her about it, and her promising to stop all over again._

_And then, at the end of May (May 23__rd__ to be exact), everything changed._

"_Lily, we, I- I can't do this with you anymore,"_

_Lily fought hard to keep her expression neutral. "Okay," She said evenly. "Why?"_

"_There's this girl. I really like her, Lily," He told her honestly. He couldn't help but smile. "I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend this weekend,"_

_Lily raised an eyebrow. "I thought Scorpius Malfoy didn't _do _commitment,"_

"_She's different,"_

"_Who's the lucky girl?" Lily asked, already knowing the answer. He could see the way he looked at her, and she had confided in Lily that she really liked him._

_Scorpius sighed. "Rose Weasley,"_

_And just like that, her world fell apart._

_James had found her, crying in an empty classroom. Within moments he knew everything. He had held her close and when she was done crying had told her, "Maybe this is a good thing. It was only hurting you, being with him,"_

"_But Jamie, I love him!" She had cried, and dissolved into tears again._

Lily sighed. "You know what's going on, James," She told him, avoiding his eyes.

"Lily," He said quietly. "Look at me,"

Reluctantly, she did, and she started crying.

She had always been tough, never one to show emotion in front of anyone. But with James it was different. James, who had seen her at her best and her worst and yet stood by her through it all. Her brother James, who always knew what she was thinking before she could voice it, who always knew what to say to make her feel better.

He reached out and pulled her into an embrace.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Lils?" He asked finally. She looked up at him, confused. He continued, "You're letting him control your life without him even trying to. You're pining away for him, hoping he'll decide he loves you and not Rose after all. But that's not going to happen, Lily! He doesn't love you! He never did! It's been _four years_, Lil! You need to move on!"

She wiped her tears away. "I know," She whispered finally, smiling slightly. "I know, Jamie,"

He sighed. "I'm here, Lils," He told her. "If you ever need to talk, come find me. And if you ever decide you want a date, I'm pretty sure I know a guy who has a thing for redheads,"

Lily laughed. "Thanks, Jamie. For everything,"

"No problem, Lily Lu," He grinned. "Now, you up for helping me prank Al?"

**For the:**

**Game Of Life Challenge (Character: Lily Luna Potter, Prompt: Engagement Party)**

**If You Dare Challenge (Prompt #458. My Job)**

**Prove Me Wrong Challenge (Finish a multi chapter story with at least 10 chapters and a minimum of 1200 words per chapter)**

**The Flower Language Challenge (Daffodil: Write about unrequited love)**


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